Ravenna?”
Maximilian walked a bit further into the night, away from the column. She was here. He could feel it.
Ravenna?
He turned slightly to his left, sensing her in the night.
“Ravenna, talk to me.”
“Why? I had thought you tired of me. Embarrassed, perhaps. Have you taken Ishbel back to your bed? Have you been that foolish?”
Maximilian walked very carefully toward her. She stood a little distance away, all wrapped in blackness and reserve, only her pale face and gray eyes clearly visible in the night.
“Ishbel has nothing to do with this, Ravenna.”
“She has everything to do with it! Maxel, she will destroy you, and—”
“And Elcho Falling and this land. Yes, I have heard it all before, Ravenna.”
“And yet you ignore it. Dear gods, Maxel, what else can I say? What can I do to make you understand?”
“Are you aiding the generals, Ravenna?”
Everything about her closed off from him. Maximilian could almost feel her shrink back into the night.
“It is not me, Maximilian.”
“It stinks of your power, Ravenna.”
She didn’t say anything.
“How did we come to this, Ravenna?”
Again she did not reply.
“Ravenna,” Maximilian said, “don’t turn me into your enemy. Please, you saved my life once. You were my friend. Don’t now turn against me.”
“I am carrying your child, Maximilian.”
“Don’t use that to manipulate me!” Maximilian said. He took a deep breath, quelling his anger. “Damn it, Ravenna, that child is the only thing keeping you safe in this column right now!”
“This child,” Ravenna said, “is the only thing keeping Elcho Falling safe right now.”
“That child,” Maximilian ground out, “was a mistake. Everything about us and between us was a mistake, Ravenna.”
As soon as the words were out Maximilian wished he had not said them. It was, he thought, too stark a truth for either of them to bear right now.
But he had no chance to take the words back, or to moderate them. Ravenna sent him a hard, brilliant-eyed look and then she was gone.
“Do you remember, Maximilian Persimius, what happened in the mine that day you battled Cavor?”
Maximilian whipped about. He’d stood a few minutes after Ravenna had left, wondering what she might do after those words he’d said to her.
A tall, well-built man stood a few paces away. Thick cobalt hair fell down over his brow and his eyes sparked with blue fire. His fine, beautiful features were almost ethereal.
Maximilian gave a small bow. “My Lord of Dreams. Drava.”
The Lord of Dreams gave a small smile. “No need to bow to me, Maximilian. Tell me, do you remember that day?”
How could Maximilian forget it? He’d fought with Cavor in the dark mine of the Veins, battling for the right to regain the Escatorian throne. At first they’d fought with swords, but then the Lord of Dreams had set them a test of compassion and laughter, in which Cavor failed and Maximilian triumphed.
“Yes,” Maximilian said, “I remember it.”
“And do you remember what happened once I appeared?”
Maximilian gave a short bark of grim laughter. “Ravenna turned from me in a moment, and revered you.”
“Aye, that she did. And when I asked her to step into the realm of dreams with me, she did so without hesitation. Maximilian, do not allow guilt over Ravenna to allow her to manipulate you. One day you will need to act.”
“Are you warning me against her?”
“In a manner, yes. Ravenna is one of the very few marsh witches who has been able to tread the Land of Nightmares beyond the Land of Dreams. Even I dare not tread into the realm of Nightmare. She is very, very powerful.”
“She carries my child.”
Drava shrugged.
Maximilian sighed. “Have you seen the vision that she showed me in the Land of Dreams?”
“Yes. It is likely something that Ravenna found in the Land of Nightmares. I cannot find any other way to explain it, for this vision is foreign to me, and to the Land of Dreams.”
“Is it truth?”
“Who knows, Maximilian. All I can say is that dreams are too often misinterpreted or misunderstood.”
“That is what Axis SunSoar told me.”
“Then he is a wise man. Maximilian, perhaps the vision shows a possibility, even a probability, but not a reality that cannot be changed. That is why Ravenna acts as she does. She wants to change that future for you.”
“But there could be other ways to alter the future.”
“There always are.”
Maximilian stood quiet awhile, comfortable in the silence between himself and the Lord of Dreams.
“Everyone, so it seems, has warned me at one time or another against Ishbel.”
“But you always believed in her.”
“Until I began to listen to her detractors.”
“Elcho Falling is a great prize, Maximilian.”
“What is that supposed to mean, Drava?”
“That there are many who will confuse your path toward it.”
Maximilian took a deep breath. “Thank you, Drava.”
Drava gave a very small smile, and then he disappeared, and Maximilian was left alone, the snow swirling about him.
That night, a terrible dream gripped many of the Isembaardian soldiers. They dreamed that the Skraelings had seethed over the River Lhyl and were eating their way through the people Isaiah had left behind.
Each sleeper saw members of his own family being slaughtered.
They saw also Isaiah and the Lealfast—standing to one side, too terrified of the Skraelings to intervene.
In the morning, just after dawn, Insharah stood in Maximilian’s command tent, trying very hard to hide his incredulity.
“You mean me to take Axis’ command position, my lord?”
“Of the Isembaardian portion of my force, yes,” Maximilian said.
Insharah looked to Axis, standing to one side. “You suggested this?”
Axis gave a nod, watching Insharah carefully.
“I don’t have the seniority,” Insharah said.
“You do now,” Maximilian replied.
“Of course, I do expect you to give it back,” said Axis with a small smile, “when I return from my foray into the wilds of the Outlands.”
“Can you do this?” Maximilian said.
Insharah gave a nod. “To my best ability, my lord.”
“Good,” Maximilian said, then turned away, signifying an end to the conversation.
“My lord?”
Maximilian half turned around, an eyebrow raised.
“Have you any news from Isaiah?” Insharah said. “The soldiers ask.”
“He has only just left, Insharah.”
“We are anxious, my lord.” Insharah hesitated. “The Lealfast can save our families from the Skraelings?”
Maximilian and Axis exchanged a look.
“My lord?” Insharah asked, his voice tight.
“They will do their best to aid your people,” Maximilian said, “but unfortunately the Lealfast will not do anything to harm the Skraelings. They are close kin and…”
Maximilian drifted to a close, seeing the horror on Insharah’s face.
“I am sorry, Insharah.”